


What Happens in London

by mrsbonniemellark



Category: Hunger Games Series - All Media Types
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-19
Updated: 2015-10-19
Packaged: 2018-04-27 01:43:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,308
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5028841
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mrsbonniemellark/pseuds/mrsbonniemellark
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In London for Prim’s wedding, Katniss and Peeta test the boundaries of their friendship. Inspired by/based on Monica and Chandler’s time in London on Friends.</p>
            </blockquote>





	What Happens in London

I can’t believe this is happening. Yesterday, if I had tried to imagine what kissing Peeta would feel like, I would’ve thought that it’d feel weird or awkward, since we’ve known each other for so long and we’re roommates, but this feels more natural than breathing. His mouth opens beneath mine and I taste the mint from his toothpaste on my tongue.

It all started when I got drunk at the rehearsal dinner for Prim’s wedding tomorrow and Peeta made sure I got back to my hotel room okay and sat with me while I sobered up, watching TV and alternating between sips of coffee and water. He only left my side twice: when he went next door to his room to change into his pajamas and again to brush his teeth.

By the time the effects of the alcohol dulled to a low buzz, I wanted nothing more than this: Peeta’s warm body between my legs.

“Peeta?” I ask. “Do you have a condom?” I watch the slightly unfocused look in his blue eyes fade as he realizes what I’m asking.

“Are you sure?” he asks, raising his eyebrows.

“Yeah. I’m completely sure.” I kiss his cheek gently, running my fingers through his blond hair.

“Okay. I’ll be right back,” he says. I move off of him so he can get up. He kisses my lips once and leaves through the door joining our rooms.

When Peeta gets back a moment later, I’m naked beneath the sheets on the bed and I hear him curse softly when he sees me. He puts an unopened box of condoms on the nightstand and takes off his clothes to join me.

“I didn’t bring them for me,” Peeta says as he slides into bed with me. “I brought them in case someone else needed them.”

“Peeta, it’s okay,” I say. “It wouldn’t matter—”

“I know, I just wanted you to know,” he says.

I wrap my arms around his neck so I can kiss him again. I think I could kiss him forever. I grab the box of condoms off of the nightstand, but Peeta stills my hand.

“There’s something I want to do first,” he says.

Before I can think what that means, Peeta has pulled back the covers on the bed, exposing our naked bodies, and slid down between my legs. He kisses the inside of my thigh and softly brushes his lips up, up, up and then oh.

I clench his blond hair between my hands as he tongues my clit. I’ve never enjoyed this particular act in the past, but clearly I’ve never been with someone who knows what they’re doing. Peeta has known me for more than ten years and it’s clear that even though we’ve never done this before, he has the advantage that only comes from knowing someone for a long time: he can read me like a book. This has been useful to us in the past when we’re in social situations and can communicate with a look, but it is a godsend now as Peeta is able to quickly figure out what I want without me having to say a word.

I’m so, so close when I yank on Peeta’s hair impatiently. He stops immediately and looks at me questioningly. “Please, I want you inside me when I come.”

Peeta wipes his mouth with the back of his hand and smiles at me. “Your wish is my command.”

I grab the box of condoms off the nightstand, opening it and taking one out. Peeta holds out his hand, but I swat it away. “I want to do it,” I say.

He watches me in awe as I rip open the foil packet, take the condom out, pinch the tip, and roll it down his cock.

I grip his back when he rolls on top of me, scratching his shoulder blades when he pushes into me.

I knew and loved so many different aspects of Peeta before now, that it never occurred to me that I might be missing something.

But oh I love the way he feels inside me, the way my breasts graze his chest with every thrust. I love the way his spine curves and he curses when I arch my back. I love his moans and gasps and the sound of my name when he’s breathless. I love the way he looks at me as though he’d like nothing more than to gaze at me forever. I love doing this with him more than I’ve ever loved doing this with anyone else.

I hate that we’ve never done this before.

“I’m close, Peeta,” I say.

“Tell me what you want,” he whispers in my ear, tugging on my earlobe with his teeth.

“Touch me,” I say. He reaches down to touch my clit and I come at the first brush of his fingers. I cling to Peeta as I shatter beneath him.

“You look so fucking hot when you come, Katniss,” he gasps out and comes deep inside me.

Peeta rolls off of me, disposing of the condom and cleaning himself up. When he gets back, I tuck myself into his side and he puts his arm around me.

I drift off to sleep immediately, more relaxed and sated than I can ever remember being.

When I wake, Peeta is no longer next to me. I use the restroom quickly, brushing my teeth and pulling on a robe. I reenter the room in time to see Peeta coming in wearing jeans and a sweater, carrying muffins and bottles of orange juice.

“Thank you,” I tell him, accepting the breakfast.

“We need to talk about last night,” Peeta says. He sits in the armchair by the window and I sit on the edge of the bed, setting my muffin and orange juice on the nightstand. In reality we’re only about three feet apart, but it feels like miles after last night.

“Okay. Let’s talk,” I say, nodding.

“I think we should agree to be honest with each other, no matter what,” he says. He leans forward in his chair, resting his elbows on his thighs and clasping his hands together.

“Okay. I agree. Honesty,” I say.

“Right. So…What’s going to happen to us moving forward?” His blue eyes stare into mine so intensely I have to look away.

I look at my feet as I say quietly, “I don’t know. Your friendship is so important to me, Peeta, and you’re my roommate…I don’t want to risk what we already have. I’ve never been good at being in relationships, you know that. But…” I look up at him and see his eyes still trained on me. “I also don’t want to not have sex with you again.” I bite my lip.

“Okay…” Peeta thinks for a minute. “What if we have a ‘Not in New York’ rule where we can keep having sex as long as we’re in London, but when we’re back in New York, we don’t?”

“I think that sounds perfect,” I say. We both stand simultaneously, moving towards each other and meeting in the middle. I throw my arms around his neck as he wraps his arms around my waist and our mouths meet hotly. I moan at the first touch of his lips and he groans.

He’s untying my robe and I’m working on the button of his jeans and we fall back on the bed. Peeta has his mouth around my nipple and his thumb on my clit when there’s a knock on the door.

“Probably just housekeeping,” Peeta murmurs and the vibrations of his voice against my breast make me whimper. “Ignore it.”

“Katniss?” Shit. It’s Prim. I look at Peeta and he springs off of me in a hurry, buttoning his pants and helping me with my robe.

“I’ll be in my room,” Peeta says. He kisses me gently and slips through the door joining our rooms.

“Katniss? Are you there?” Prim calls, knocking again. I hurry to the door, flinging it open and trying to look like I just woke up.

“Hey, Prim! What’s up?” I cringe at the squeak in my voice.

“What’s up?! I’m getting married today!” Prim squeals. She’s wearing the white bridal sweats I helped her pick out with “Bride” in rhinestones on the thigh and she’s bouncing up and down in her UGG boots. She pushes past me into my room and I shut the door with a sigh and follow her.

“Katniss?” Prim asks. “Did you have a gentleman caller last night?”

“What? Why would you think that?” I ask. She’s smirking at me and I wonder how she could have figured it out.

“Well, there’s a box of condoms on the nightstand and a cell phone that’s not yours on the floor,” Prim says, picking up the phone.

“Okay, fine. I had a gentleman caller,” I roll my eyes. “And I’m sure he’ll be wanting his phone back, so just give me that.” I try to grab the phone out of her hands but she turns away from me, pressing the home button and unlocking the phone with a swipe of her finger.

Shit. I know for a fact that Peeta’s home screen is a picture of the two of us at the beach last summer.

“Oh my God! You slept with Peeta!” she says. Her eyes are bright and she’s bouncing up and down on her feet again. When I don’t say anything, she throws her arms around me and excitedly tells me how she’s been waiting for this day for so long and this is the best thing that could happen on her wedding day ever.

“Shh!” I say, laughing. “He’s going to hear you! His room’s just next door.”

“Well, I should just see that he gets his phone back then while you get in the shower,” she says, smiling. “Our hair appointments are in an hour.”

She’s got me there. I warn her not to tease Peeta and head into the bathroom to shower, covering my hair in my white plastic shower cap.

When I step out of the bathroom a few minutes later, I find Prim sitting in the armchair by the window with a smug look on her face.

“Uh-oh, what did you say to Peeta?” I ask.

“Not telling,” she says, smiling. “Put some clothes on, we’re going to be late!”

“Prim, Mom’s doing our hair! We can be a few minutes late,” I say. I put on my black sweats that say “Maid of Honor,” grab my purse and my makeup bag and announce I’m ready.

We take the elevator down to our mother’s room on the second floor. She answers the door on the first knock.

“Finally!” my mother says. “I was just about to call you. The rest of the bridesmaids got here ten minutes ago.”

Prim shoots me a look and I scowl back at her. Rue and Annie are sitting on the bed in their black sweats that say “Bridal ENTOURAGE” when we walk in. Rue’s hair is already pinned back in an elegant bun. My mother works fast.

Over the next thirty minutes, my mother does Annie’s and my hair to match Rue’s, but for me she adds two small braids, each on the side of my head, that twist back into the bun with the rest of my hair. She smiles at me in the mirror when she’s done and I turn around so I can hug her. I know how hard today is for her. It’s hard on me too.

For Prim, my mother separates her hair on the bottom and the top, twisting the top layer back into a bun, and using a curling iron on the bottom layer so it hangs in big, loose curls.

My mother does Prim’s makeup next while Annie, Rue, and I do our own, taking turns with the eyeshadow and lipstick we all agreed to wear.

Never being adept at putting on makeup, I’m surprised to find that I look good when I’m done. Not as beautiful as Prim, whose makeup looks absolutely wonderful, but it’s her special day, not mine.

“Katniss, isn’t your flight after the reception tonight? Don’t you need to check out at noon?” Prim asks me.

“Oh right!” I say. There’s still time, especially since I didn’t bring much, but I need to hurry if I want to leave for the church along with everyone else.

“I’ll meet you guys in the lobby,” I say, hurrying back to my room.

I throw all my stuff in my suitcase haphazardly, not that there’s much to begin with since I never unpacked. But there are a few things in the closet and the bathroom that I can’t afford to lose. I look at the box of condoms on the nightstand and blush, tucking them into my purse in case Peeta and I get a chance to be alone later. I’ll have to ask him what Prim said to him when I see him.

When I close the door to my room, I see Peeta doing the same, wheeling his suitcase down the hallway toward me.

“Checking out?” He asks me.

“Um, yeah,” I say. Did he look this gorgeous this morning? I feel myself blushing as we walk toward the elevators together.

“You look beautiful.”

“Thank you. So do you,” I say. He laughs as the elevator doors open with a ding. We wait for the passengers to step out before boarding, and when the elevator doors close, we’re alone.

My body feels so alive in his presence, it’s almost too much. It’s like there’s a fire burning in my veins. Is he feeling it too? He must.

I step toward him slightly and his lips come crashing down onto mine as though he’d been waiting for a signal from me. Perhaps he was. I whimper in the back of my throat and he pushes me into the wall of the elevator. I drop the garment bag holding my dress and throw my arms around his neck.

We break apart when the elevator doors open at the lobby. “To be continued,” Peeta says with a smirk.

Prim, Rue, Annie, and my mother walk into the lobby just as I finish checking out and I walk over to greet them, telling Peeta I’ll see him later.

Rue goes to find us a couple of cabs and Prim silently passes me a tissue, a compact mirror and a tube of lipstick. I blush and fix my makeup without a word.

“Peeta looks good wearing your lipstick,” she whispers to me when I hand her things back to her.

Rue comes in then to tell us she has two cabs waiting for us outside and we all pile in.

I’m surprised when I end up in the backseat of a cab with Prim and Peeta. I look at Prim in surprise and she says, “What? He needs a ride to the church too. The boys are already there.” Peeta, sitting on Prim’s other side, is laughing.

The few blocks to the church are silent and I can’t help thinking that Prim is right, Peeta does look good in my lipstick.

Rue, Annie, and I change into our pale yellow dresses and help Prim change into her white, bridal gown. We do touch-ups on her makeup and make sure she has her something old (the earrings our mother wore when she married our father), something new (her dress), something borrowed (a tennis bracelet of Annie’s), and something blue (our mother’s earrings are sapphire). When we’re done, we all just stand back and look at her in awe.

“I’m so happy, Katniss,” she tells me with tears in her eyes.

“I know, little duck,” I say, taking her hand in mine. “You’ve been giddy all day.”

“Well…part of that is because of what happened this morning,” she says, smiling.

“Ha ha,” I say.

“What happened this morning?” Annie asks.

“Nothing,” I say. Thankfully, no one asks any more questions about it.

The hour-long ceremony passes quickly. Far too often, my gaze travels to Peeta on the other side of Eric, Prim’s fiancé, looking handsome in a tux. He returns my gaze with an intense expression on his face that I don’t comprehend.

When the minister pronounces Eric and Prim to be husband and wife, my eyes start to water and I look at my mother in her seat and see she’s trying to hold back tears too.

When Prim and Eric have left in the limo that will take them to Eric’s parents’ house, where the reception will be, we all follow them in separate cars and cabs. The reception’s not for a few more hours, but the photographer is meeting us there for pictures and there’s a lot to be done still before it starts.

After the pictures are done, Peeta and I help as much as we can, but at the first chance we sneak down to the wine cellar to be alone.

“Wait, my lipstick!” I say before Peeta can kiss me, having learned my lesson earlier.

“Right,” Peeta says, pausing. A slow smile spreads across his face and he says, “Just because you can’t kiss me, that doesn’t mean I can’t kiss you.” And then his lips are on my neck and the fire from earlier is back in full force. I clutch him tightly to me and bite my lip to keep from crying out. He’s rock hard now and pushing against me right where I need him. I’m just about to grab for the box of condoms in my purse when the door opens. Peeta reluctantly moves away from me, and I try to slow my breathing.

Eric’s father comes down the cellar stairs a moment later and looks surprised to see us. “What are you two doing here?” he asks.

“We were just looking at your impressive wine collection,” I say. While obviously a lie, I see that Eric’s father is only too happy to show us his collection. He doesn’t pause for breath while he drones on and on about the winemaking process behind each bottle and how he procures them all. By the time he stops talking, I’m about ready to claw my eyes out.

Peeta and I finally escape upstairs to see that the reception is about to start in the tent set up outside. Prim and Eric have their first dance to John Legend’s “All of Me,” and then the toasts start. I say the words I’ve had memorized for weeks now about how Prim and Eric show us all how great love can be.

There a thousand things I could say about Prim that are more personal, of course, but I don’t want a room full of people to hear them. I don’t want them to hear about how after our father died, I helped our mother raise her and the thought of her being really and truly grown up and no longer needing me is what had me drinking almost a whole bottle of champagne last night. I don’t want them to hear that Prim being so brave to trust someone with her heart makes me think I could be brave too. Maybe.

Many more speeches follow mine. We eat and eat and eat, and when we’re done, some people find the energy to dance. I’m far too full and plan on sitting it out, but Peeta tugs me onto the dance floor and we turn in slow circles. I rest my head on Peeta’s shoulder and his arms tighten around me. And just when I didn’t think I could eat any more, the cake is brought out. It’s not one of Peeta’s, but it’s still pretty good. And then, surprisingly, there’s more dancing. Prim is still so full of energy, but I’m exhausted. Peeta is supporting way too much of my weight as we dance, but he doesn’t seem to mind. Finally, the last song of the night plays and then Prim and Eric rush down the front steps of the house to the limo waiting to take them to the airport while we throw rose petals at them.

Peeta and I are tasked with helping clean up and I can’t help but think that this is our last chance to do anything before we’re back in New York. We have to leave for the airport soon, but I’m barely keeping my eyes open as it is.

When it’s time, Peeta and I change and call for a cab. The ride to the airport is silent, both of us trying so hard not to say things we might regret later.

I fall asleep almost the minute I get into my seat on the plane, but I startle awake halfway through the flight to Peeta’s hand caressing my hair. “Sorry,” he mumbles. I tell him it’s okay, and it is, he wasn’t doing anything wrong. But the fire from before is back now from just this slight touch and I’m more than just awake now, I’m needy.

I sit up, trying to put as much distance between us as possible, in the hopes that it will calm my body down, but it doesn’t.

“I want you so much, Peeta,” I whisper. I grip the armrests beside me so tightly my knuckles turn white.

“I know,” Peeta sighs. He gently pries my hand from the armrest between us and entwines our fingers together. “I wanted you before, but it was nothing like this. It’s infinitely worse now that I know what it’s really like to be with you.”

My body burns hotter at the thought of him wanting me before; of him wanting me more now.

“This ‘Not in New York’ rule is still smart, right?” I ask.

“Right,” Peeta says, though he doesn’t sound sure.

I look at him and suddenly our faces are so close together I can’t breathe. I lean toward him slowly, feel him whisper something against my lips, but I don’t hear it. Peeta’s lips move against mine and I gasp, so grateful that he’s not rejecting me. Kissing Peeta is like that first breath of air after being submerged in water for too long. That breath of air that tells you you’re alive, and that you’ll keep on living if you can keep your head above water. The thought of not being able to kiss Peeta once the plane lands in New York is unbearable.

“Katniss?” Peeta whispers once we break apart.

“It’s okay,” I whisper back. “We’re not in New York yet.”

“How right you are,” he says, pulling me to him. We kiss for far longer than is appropriate on a plane full of passengers, but we don’t care. We kiss on and off for the rest of the flight, stopping only when the pilot announces that the plane will be descending soon.

“Well, we’re in New York now,” I say when we’ve landed.

Peeta nods in response but stays silent. He stays silent through baggage claim and customs and the cab ride back to our apartment.

“Hey, Peeta?” I say once I’ve shut the door to our apartment.

“Yeah?”

“I just—I wanted to thank you, for being there for me this weekend, when I needed you. This weekend really meant a lot to me,” I say quietly.

“It meant a lot to me too,” Peeta whispers. He kisses me on the forehead and rolls his suitcase into his room, shutting the door behind him. I follow suit, figuring I should probably unpack now anyway, while I’m awake.

I’ve barely unzipped my suitcase when I hear Peeta’s door open. Curious, I go back into the living room and see him standing there as though he was waiting for me.

“I’m still on London time, does that count?”

“Oh yeah, that counts,” I say gratefully.

“Oh thank God,” Peeta says in a rush. We crash into each other, our lips meeting in a kiss that’s sloppy in our desperation, but I couldn’t care less. I bite and suck and pull at his lips.

We tear at each other’s clothes until there’s nothing left and fall in a naked heap on the couch. I distantly think that this certainly wasn’t what I had in mind when we picked out the couch, but maybe it should’ve been. And then there’s a condom wrapper on the floor and Peeta’s inside me and I can think no more. 

Finally. I’m on fire and he’s on fire and we’re burning and writhing and moaning and sweating together. I’ve never experienced this kind of passion before and maybe it should frighten me, but I just want more, more, more. I grip Peeta’s backside and marvel at the feel of it moving beneath my hands as Peeta thrusts inside me over and over.

“I love it when you say my name,” he says. I realize then that I’ve been chanting it and cry out in surprise, or pleasure, I’m not sure which.

“Fuck, I’m coming,” he says, stilling above me and shuddering, his breath coming out in gasps and grunts.

Peeta disposes of the condom, and just as I’m thinking that it’s okay I didn’t come, he kneels before me, putting my legs over his shoulders and his mouth on my clit.

Fuck, Peeta is so good at this. He sucks and licks at me and it must be only seconds later that I come against his mouth, telling him over and over not to stop. And Peeta, ever so attentive, doesn’t stop until my body is done shuddering and I’m lying on the couch, spent.

Peeta brushes my sweaty hair off my forehead, pressing a kiss there gently. “So…what happens now?” he asks.

“I guess we…see where this goes. Is that okay?”

Peeta’s smile is my answer.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much to all of my friends who supported me while I wrote this and needed constant reassurance that it didn’t suck. You know who you are and I love you all!  
> And thank you to everyone who took the time to read this! Come follow me on tumblr! I'm safeinpeetasarms :)


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